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Focused attention, open monitoring and automatic self-transcending: Categories to organize meditations from Vedic, Buddhist and Chinese traditions.
- Source :
-
Consciousness and cognition [Conscious Cogn] 2010 Dec; Vol. 19 (4), pp. 1110-8. Date of Electronic Publication: 2010 Feb 18. - Publication Year :
- 2010
-
Abstract
- This paper proposes a third meditation-category--automatic self-transcending--to extend the dichotomy of focused attention and open monitoring proposed by Lutz. Automatic self-transcending includes techniques designed to transcend their own activity. This contrasts with focused attention, which keeps attention focused on an object; and open monitoring, which keeps attention involved in the monitoring process. Each category was assigned EEG bands, based on reported brain patterns during mental tasks, and meditations were categorized based on their reported EEG. Focused attention, characterized by beta/gamma activity, included meditations from Tibetan Buddhist, Buddhist, and Chinese traditions. Open monitoring, characterized by theta activity, included meditations from Buddhist, Chinese, and Vedic traditions. Automatic self-transcending, characterized by alpha1 activity, included meditations from Vedic and Chinese traditions. Between categories, the included meditations differed in focus, subject/object relation, and procedures. These findings shed light on the common mistake of averaging meditations together to determine mechanisms or clinical effects.<br /> (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Subjects :
- Brain blood supply
Cognition physiology
Female
Frontal Lobe physiology
Humans
Male
Meditation methods
Middle Aged
Object Attachment
Regional Blood Flow physiology
Tibet
Attention physiology
Awareness physiology
Brain physiology
Brain Waves physiology
Buddhism psychology
Electroencephalography
Empathy physiology
Hinduism psychology
Meditation psychology
Religion and Psychology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1090-2376
- Volume :
- 19
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Consciousness and cognition
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 20167507
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2010.01.007